Twenty bar associations call for release of Aysel Tuğluk

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Twenty bar associations have released a joint statement about Aysel Tuğluk, an imprisoned Kurdish politician who is kept behind bars despite her deteriorating health.

Tuğluk was diagnosed with dementia and the Koaceli University Faculty of Medicine issued a report that she could not stay in prison any longer. Yet the Forensic Medicine Institution concluded that she could stay in prison.

Quoting article 17 of the Constitution, the bar associations said, "Everyone has the right to life and the right to protect and improve their corporeal and spiritual existence ... No one shall be subjected to torture or maltreatment; no one shall be subjected to penalties or treatment incompatible with human dignity."

Citing article 104, the associations noted that the president has the authority to "commute or remit the sentences imposed on persons, on grounds of chronic illness, disability or old age."

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Also, if staying in prison poses a life risk for an ill prisoner, their sentence should be deferred until they recover, according to Law no 5275 on the Enforcement of Sentences and Security Measures, they said.

"All these provisions have a single purpose and it is to ensure that the execution of a sentence is not contrary to human dignity and that to prevent the sentence from turning into torture and ill treatment," said the statement.

According to the mentioned laws and provisions, Tuğluk, who cannot currently meet her basic needs without help, should be released from provision, the associations said.

"Dementia describes a group of symptoms that affect memory, thinking, and social skills. Dementia is not a single disease. On the contrary, there are many types. Alzheimer's dementia, the most common type, is responsible for approximately 60 percent to 80 percent of all dementias.

"Aysel Tuğluk is unable to meet her own vital needs, such as eating and drinking, and her illness is getting worse day by day due to prison conditions.

"In this situation, where she cannot meet her own needs and has difficulty in communicating with others, it has become a necessity to defer the execution of her sentence until the recovery of her illness. Otherwise, it will show that the execution of the sentence is against human dignity."

The bar associations of the following provinces signed the statement: Adana, Adıyaman, Ağrı, Antalya, Batman, Bingöl, Bitlis, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Hatay, İzmir, Kars, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak, Tunceli, Van.

(RT/VK)